The State Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the draft Karnataka Public Trust Bill, 2011 which will be tabled in the forthcoming budget session of legislature.
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Higher Education Minister V S Acharya said at present there is no arrangement for maintenance, administration and control of non-religious social and educational trusts.
Previously, charitable trusts in Belgaum, Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Uttara Kannada came under the purview of Bombay Public Trust Act -1950.
However, the Act was repealed following the enactment of Karnataka Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, 1997.
Sources said there are 5,680 non-religious charitable trusts in the State and most of them are running educational institutions or hospitals.
The new legislation will bring them under its purview.
Panchayat Bill
The State Government will also table the Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2010 restricting the total reservation of seats of SC/ST/OBC in Panchayat Raj institutions to 50 per cent. An ordinance with similar provisions lapsed on February 21. There was stiff opposition to the provision when it was inferred that the October 4 ordinance in effect would mean the representation of backward classes in various panchayats bodies would come down drastically. The government had promulgated the ordinance following a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the K Krishnamurthy Vs Union of India case stipulating that reservation in panchayats cannot exceed 50 per cent.
It would be for the legislature to decide whether to abide by the Supreme Court order restricting reservation to 50 per cent in panchayat bodies or suggest amendment to the bill restore 33 per cent reservation to OBCs.